After 18 straight losses dating back to last season, the Kent State volleyball team won its first match of the season yesterday.

At the Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Va., the Flashes shut out Cornell in three sets, bringing their season record to 1-7.

After a close series of matches against George Mason (25-19, 27-25, 24-26, 16-25 and 11-15) and Morehead State (25-19, 28-26, 21-25, 21-25 and 6-15) the Flashes turned their losing streak around and defeated Cornell.

Kent State coach Glen Conley said the team was extremely focused during the match. Conley said the Flashes had drive and were determined to put the match away.

“We needed to win,” Conley said. “The girls really wanted it.”

Senior outside hitter Arjola Prenga made her debut this weekend with 43 kills. She averaged about five kills per set against Morehead State and seven kills per set against Cornell. Conley said he expected Prenga to play well.

“I feel really good about how I played this weekend,” Prenga said. “But my team helped me. We needed to play lots of games to get comfortable. We understand each other now.”

Kent State returns to action Friday in the Raider Challenge. The Flashes will travel to Dayton to face off against St. Peter’s, Evansville and Wright State.

Contact sports reporter Ashley Sepanski at [email protected].